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Article
Digital Innocence
Cornell Law Review
  • Joshua A.T. Fairfield, Washington & Lee University School of Law
  • Erik Luna, Washington and Lee University School of Law
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-1-2014
Abstract

Recent revelations have shown that almost all online activity and increasing amounts of offline activity are tracked using Big Data and data mining technologies. The ensuing debate has largely failed to consider an important consequence of mass surveillance: the obligation to provide access to information that might exonerate a criminal defendant. Although information technology can establish innocence—an ability that will only improve with technological advance—the fruits of mass surveillance have been used almost exclusively to convict. To address the imbalance and inform public dialogue, this Article develops the concept of “digital innocence” as a means of leveraging the tools of Big Data, data mining, ubiquitous consumer tracking, and digital forensics to prevent wrongful convictions and to provide hard proof of actual innocence for those already convicted.

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Citation Information
Joshua A.T. Fairfield and Erik Luna, Digital Innocence, 99 Cornell L. Rev. 981 (2014).